When giving cut roses as Valentine gifts, we adhere to a time-honored formula that takes into account rose color meanings. The formula matches a rose's color to its intended meaning as a gift. Valentine's Day is primarily a lovers' holiday, with red roses at a premium. Colors other than red just won't do when you're trying to tell your romantic interest, "I love you." Our close family members may also be treated to red roses for Valentine's Day, but we avoid giving roses of this color to friends on Valentine's Day - that would simply convey the wrong meaning. The following are the meanings traditionally attached to the most popular roses, according to colors:
Red roses mean love.
The meaning of yellow roses is joy and friendship.
We express our gratitude and appreciation with deep pink roses....
While feelings of admiration and sympathy find words with roses that are light pink in color.
Their purity naturally enough lends to white roses the meaning of reverence and humility.
Just follow the formula that matches the colors with the corresponding meanings, and you can't go wrong as a gift-giver. But is growing rose bushes in the landscape garden also that simple? Yes, it is. Nor is there any great mystery surrounding it (although pruning roses can be tricky for the beginner, the subject of Page 2). The formula for growing rose bushes is a well-known one, since it is a formula that the average landscape plant lives (or dies) by:
sun + water + drainage + rich soil = landscaping success
I use the terminology "rose bushes" to refer generally to all roses, regardless of form, which can range from miniature shrubs to sprawling climbers. Once you're committed to following the formula for growing rose bushes, for maximum success you'll simply have to tweak the formula a bit and add some extras. For instance:
While roses like six hours of sun per day, it does matter what part of the day those six hours come from. Six hours of morning sun is preferable to six hours of afternoon sun, for two reasons:
- Rose bush foliage prefers to be dry. The quicker the dampness from the night is burned off the foliage, the less likely disease is to become a factor.
- The afternoon sun is often excessively hot. Roses profit from some afternoon shade.
To keep insect pests off your rose bushes, try companion planting with garlic. And once per week, while watering your rose bushes, mix some dishwashing soap into the water and apply this "insecticidal soap" to your bushes (of course, there are also true insecticidal soaps that you can buy).
As always, soil pH is a consideration. Roses prefer a pH ranging from 6.5 to 6.8.
For fertilizing, Jerry Baker suggests "a handful of any rose food once a month."
Care for Rose Bushes on the Landscape: Overwintering, Watering:
In cold climates roses can be mulched, but if you really want to make sure your bushes are protected, practice a winterizing method called the Minnesota Tip.
Roses need a lot of water (how much "a lot" is will depend, of course, on many factors). As in the case of sunlight hours (see above), not all rose-watering methods are created equal. On the average, it is best to water rose bushes twice a week -- and to water them thoroughly. It would be better to water twice per week deeply than to apply four shallower, less thorough waterings over the same time period.
These are some of the basics of rose bush care. Not too difficult, right? In fact, since there's a logical reason behind all these tips, they're probably easier to remember than the rose color meanings, which would seem to be rather arbitrary.
Preparing Rose Bush Beds
Soil in rose beds should be conditioned properly to a depth of 3', as outlined in the following steps:
Remove about 1 1/2' of soil in depth.
Spread a layer of organic amendment about 3" thick over the bottom of the hole.
Dig down into the soil another 1 1/2' and turn that over, mixing in the organic amendment.
Shovel the first foot of soil back into the bed and spread another 3" layer of amendments over that.
Optional: Add bone meal, which promotes root growth. You can also use fertilizers designed specifically for roses.
Till the bed with a rototiller to mix the layers together.
Now you can dig the hole in which your rose bush will sit. Make it approximately 2' X 2' X 2'. What about that extra foot in depth that you've already prepared for? That's for drainage. For further planting instructions, see below.
Planting Bare Root Rose Bushes
You can buy the more expensive container-grown rose bushes and plant them in the ground, but why would you want to? Bare root planting is safe for the plants and economical for you. The most difficult chore in the planting may well be the initial pruning that you have to do. The height of the canes should be reduced to 6"- 8". It will probably seem a shame to be hacking down the canes this way before the rose bush has even had a chance to grow. But it's a necessary step: the root system is too meager at this point to support much growth above ground. Trim off damaged roots, too, since they'll only invite disease. For a detailed article on planting bare root rose bushes, see Mark Whitelaw's Planting Bare Root Rose Bushes. I will restrict myself here merely to emphasizing the importance of one trick of the trade, the reason behind which may not be immediately obvious.
Novices to rose bush growing are informed to follow bed preparation with digging a hole and mounding up a cone of soil within that hole (see the illustration at the top of this page). You may wonder what purpose such a cone serves. Draping the young roots over this cone is meant to give them some direction in life. Being young and foolish, if not shown the proper direction to take, they may wander aimlessly. Roots need to be encouraged to grow down, deep. The cone guides them down just this path. Shallow root growth is to be discouraged, because such roots are exposed to summer heat and winter cold -- neither of which is good for them. By encouraging deep root penetration right at the outset, you're taking a major step towards successful rose bush growing.
